iPad LTE Makes it Far Easier to Use Up Bandwidth Allotments

That seems pretty straightforward; especially given that others had already discovered that iPhone 4s users used more data than iPhone 4 users (presumably because of HSPA+ availability for AT&T users).

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I feel really lucky to have unlimited LTE from an old AT&T iPad. I did 800mb in 4 days, pretty much just downloading some small apps, web browsing, and watching a couple of YouTube clips. It's amazingly fast. If I wasn't unlimited, I'd only download apps and watch video if I was on wifi.

In other iPad news, the Retina display has more pixels.

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Also, driving faster gets you to your destination more quickly, and spending more money burns through you budget faster.

Wow! What an amazing piece of reporting! I never knew that streaming video over cellular data would burn through my allotment of data quickly. Good thing somebody did the investigative reporting on that.

LTE makes streaming video better because you don't have to wait. It does not mean you should stream more video if you don't have unlimited data. Just because they open a McDonald's around the corner does not mean you should add more Big Macs to your diet. If they opened a Chevron closer to your home does it mean you should feel free to drive more miles daily? It just means that when you need McDonald's or Chevron they will be easier to access.

Cellular Data should be looked at the same way. Make it as fast as possible but if you are on a limited plan you still need to be on a budget if you don't have an unlimited plan.

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I'll probably cancel my service before the end of the month until they increase the caps. They are doubling lte caps for smart phones on lte they need to do the same for iPads and other lte tablets.

Someone needs to tell the WSJ that if you install larger pipes you can get more water through them in the same amount of time. Apparently, this really is rocket science.

I always imagine 4G speeds would be irritating, because it'd be really fast, but you'd struggle to make the most of it without smashing through data caps.

Tastydirt said:

In other iPad news, the Retina display has more pixels.

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And higher wattage backlights produce higher heat.

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My ultimate goal was to find which worked faster at work an at home. So I bought both an AT&T and Verizon iPads.

I choose the 3gb option on AT&T and and the 1 fb option wit Verizon.


In one day, I went through 950mbs on the Verizon iPad! I did about 100 speed tests.

I found that Verizon definitely had a better strength in more places. Rarely ever 2 bars. They had reasonable d/l speeds around 12-20. But their uploads seemed capped because I didn't get over 8mbs.*. This is when Verizon had 3-4 bars and AT&T had 2 bars

Where AT&T caught up though was when both companies had 5 bars signal that AT&T blew me away at a speed test 50 MB versus Verizon maxed out at 40 MB. Uploads during 5 bars, is also where ATT shines! 30-40mbs uploads where Verizon only for up to 10-15mbs upload!

Another odd thing I found about speed tests, where results completely changed depending on which server I wa connected to! I'm in Houston. I thought you should always connect to the closest test servers. I would get a faster ping times but my downloads and uploads much slower when I connected to the two servers in houston. When I connected to the server in San Marcus that's where I was able to get the fastest downloads but that server the uploads seemed capped!

In the end, I'm keeping my AT&T iPad.

I hope this helps drive the carriers to offer better data plans. Canadian carriers seem to be notoriously bad for this. Look at the current data plans for the iPad 4G LTE: Rogers, Telus and Bell start their plans at 10 MB per month.

That wasn't a typo. Ten megabytes. Per month.

You could burn through that in ten seconds by watching a single YouTube video.

But hey, these are the same carriers that offer off-plan and roaming data rates at 3 cents per kilobyte. That's over $31,000 per GB of data!

Duh!

Come, join hands, let's call this Bandwidthgate and forward it to Gizmodo to blow it out of proportions.

These providers need to start reinvesting these record earning profits back into their networks and start loosening the bandwidth leash. There's no doubt we're behind the Europe and Asian markets.

Wanna talk data use. Since i got my iPad on Friday. Telus LTE in Canada.

duh!

Just because you can download faster doesn't mean you need to download more.

Really??

This is really a surprise? I don't understand.....

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I think anyone who purchases a capped LTE plan is a fool. People are going to burn right through their caps and do nothing but complain.

Why even purchase the LTE version of the iPad unless you have an unlimited plan??? It's funny because most of the people who bought the LTE version of the iPad have a smartphone and really don't need it.

LTE is Pointless (At the Moment)

LTE will always been pointless until carriers make it affordable.

Revearti said:

LTE will always been pointless until carriers make it affordable.

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The latest and greatest always comes in at the highest price. It's not for everyone.

The original iPhone was $600 + $80/month = $2520 over two years. I didn't get it; that was above what I could afford to pay for a phone, regardless of whether I wanted it (I did) or not.

My current iPhone is $300 + $35/month = $1140 over two years. I got it because I checked and determined I could afford it.

Right now, the iPad is out of my budget, so I haven't bought it yet, even though I want it. Maybe next year I'll be making more and the iPad will be cheaper and I'll be able to afford it. (Although I think it's more likely that I'll decide to upgrade from my used 2007 Mac Book Air to a new Mac Book Pro, first.)

DTphonehome said:

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I feel really lucky to have unlimited LTE from an old AT&T iPad. I did 800mb in 4 days, pretty much just downloading some small apps, web browsing, and watching a couple of YouTube clips. It's amazingly fast. If I wasn't unlimited, I'd only download apps and watch video if I was on wifi.

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So if you have an old unlimited ipad plan, you can use it in your new LTE ipad and not just get 4G, but you can get unlimited LTE, is that what your saying?

This article is asinine. Higher def video = larger files. Faster speeds = more ease in downloading the larger files. Larger files + more speed = more saps hitting their data allotments.

2gb for $30 from Verizon is highway robbery... It is good for shareholders, who are more important to the company than customers.

Revearti said:

LTE will always been pointless until carriers make it affordable.

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I think this is the main point of the article (if one was even intended). Cellular data delivery is rapidly becoming the new broadband for many people. But right now there's no pressure on telecoms to deliver any value, so they're charging whatever the market will bear. Eventually, something's going to give. We might see one of the following scenarios:

-- There'll be so much uproar that telecoms will have to re-vamp their pricing.

-- The "digital divide" will grow deeper, so that people without loads of cash won't have access to the Internet.

-- Low-cost (and low-quality) providers will emerge, giving limited access to those without the necessary cash.